Size matters for the BMW X1 and Skoda Yeti

Although I haven’t got hold of the keys yet, I’ve spent more than a few minutes staring at the BMW X1, which is currently sitting in the Autocar car park.
I can’t quite get over the size of the X1. It’s barely taller than a Scirocco and even looks dainty – in a kind of stretched wheel base way – compared to a VW Golf. But this lunchtime, it was positively dwarfed next to the 5-series GT.

Although I haven’t got hold of the keys yet, I’ve spent more than a few minutes staring at the BMW X1, which is currently sitting in the Autocar car park.

I can’t quite get over the size of the X1. It’s barely taller than a Scirocco and even looks dainty – in a kind of stretched wheel base way – compared to a VW Golf. But this lunchtime, it was positively dwarfed next to the 5-series GT.

Somewhat like the Skoda Yeti, the X1’s designers have managed to carve out a lot of interior space in a short car and without have to raise the roof height to ridiculous levels.

The X1 and Yeti might have achieved something quite rare in the car industry – coming up with a genuinely fresh take on the two-box vehicle.

I’m not sure how much off-road ability the X1 has, but I have driven the Yeti extensively – on- and off-road. Its size, relatively low weight and short overhangs meant it was genuinely impressive off-road.

Add in the optional hill descent control and rapid-fire Haldex 4 all-wheel drive system, and this machine is the truly all-terrain. Do you need anything bigger, especially, if never more than four up?

Arguably you don’t. Having spent the last few months driving an Insignia – which is a big chunk of car – I became convinced that 95 per cent of the time I would be no worse off in current Golf even on longer journeys.

It’s the same for the X1. Autocar staffers who drive it praised its ride and handling and general sense of well being. Do you need an X3 or X5? As a family car in urban situations, the X1 is probably the better choice.

But there is one big hurdle with these small cars. Price. Both the Yeti and X1 have big price tags. The entry-level rear-drive X1 is £22,600 and an all-wheel drive 2.0d X1 is £25,510. And a basic 2.0-litre, all-wheel drive, diesel Yeti is £17,220.

One can understand why carmakers do not want to sell clever, upscale, small cars for small prices. But can they really convince the public to separate price from space?

Computer makers failed to stop the netbook revolution. Once, a laptop was a premium product. Today, a mini laptop can cost just £150 a development the industry calls a ‘race to the bottom’.

Carmakers, by contrast, are desperate to avoid the same fate. They are determined to ensure that premium small cars fetch premium prices. Car buyers, however, may disagree.

Join the debate

the point made was that the bmw brand has gone nowhere in two years, and that vehicles like the X1 will chew the ass out of siblings rather than rivals. why blow a fuse over the idea it might do better if sold cheaper ?

incidentally your idea of `debate` has been to do nothing but throw insults around ... if you're gonna be bratty and self important then dont be surprised if the thread stops dead

Sadly, now Dr Jekyll has left the keyboard we're back with our resident anger management reject. You are a very Strange Case indeed, horsey dear.

@Brava

First, the document to which you keep referring is dated before the $100m loss and thus before the share price took its biggest nose dive in twelve months.

Second, BMW have sent countless thousands of agency workers home this year, not to mention offloading 1,600 full time staff through buyouts and retirements, so whether they're hiring 350 new staff or not it's immaterial.

Nobody's said that they've 'had it'. Actually, not true - you were the one forecasting BMW's demise with endless noise about their finance division being in trouble. Today it's the only part of the company making a profit, so good job with that prediction.

Sales are 'up' compared to sales during the massive dip last year? Gosh! How about last month:

September 2009 - 122,345 units

October 2009 - 115,252 units

November 2009 - ?

And in any case the 2% rise was overall group performance, BMW brand sales accounting for less than half of one percent. I'd keep the blue and white bunting in the cupboard if I were you, at least until the small car with the Union Jack on its roof has finished carrying the team.

Speaking of which, the 1-Series and MINI are now the 2nd and 3rd best sellers worldwide (225,095 and 232,425 units respectively) accounting for almost as many sales as the 5-, 6-, 7, and X cars put together, or about one third of the total. Owners are new customers in a segment BMW was not previously in, so pricing yet another small car into the bracket above achieves what exactly?

"Correct, but BMW isn't making any money. They are raising prices, laying off workers and sharing more components as part of Norb's ten percent plan, but last week they revealed a 90% earnings drop and loss for the auto division. Meanwhile, rivals at Audi and Mercedes are moving MSRPs the other way and are still managing to post a profit.

BMW have this week revised their sales forecast from positive (based on the successful intro of the X1) to flat, which says it all." - Quite.

Over the next weeks, car maker BMW will end shorter working hours in all German plants. In the Berlin motorcycle plant shorter hours still apply for a few hundred employees. By the end of the year they will be on full working hours again.

At the same time temporary workers have been hired again at two German plants. In Regensburg they hired 300 workers and in Leipzig 50. Due to the slump in the first half of the year, the company had sent up to 25,000 workers into a shorter working week. In July this number was reduced to 12,200. In September, the shorter hours were ended for the car plants. BMW intends to publish its third quarter results this Tuesday, 3rd November.

Correct, but BMW isn't making any money. They are raising prices, laying off workers and sharing more components as part of Norb's ten percent plan, but last week they revealed a 90% earnings drop and loss for the auto division. Meanwhile, rivals at Audi and Mercedes are moving MSRPs the other way and are still managing to post a profit.

A new small Beemer which fits into the low end of a busy range is not going to help matters when it is priced to appeal to existing customers. Tick the 'metallic paint' and 'leather' boxes for minimum spec and you're already closer to £30K than to £20K, and this for a car whose Focus like dimensions make it appear C- rather than D-segment.

BMW have this week revised their sales forecast from positive (based on the successful intro of the X1) to flat, which says it all.

And in any case, if the punters feel some cars are just not worth the money their maker is asking for, they can always vote with their wallets and take their business elsewhere, can they not? It's not as if BMW is holding a gun to their heads, threatening them to buy their cars or else."

- correct. TwatEfforts' ego is so huge he thinks the market should bow to the insufferable p rick's will. Now if only TwatEfforts would aim the gun at his own head.